Automobiles and Motorcycles
Whether it is for passenger transportation, goods transportation or military uses, automobiles have been a crucial part of modern society. Today, approximately 70 million passenger cars are built worldwide each year.
Originally, automobiles were created to be self-propelling machines. They started as a bicycle-like contraption. In 1867, Sylvester Howard Roper designed a machine similar to the modern automobile.
In the early 1900s, Nicolaus Otto, Emile Levassor, Karl Benz, and Gottlieb Daimler were the pioneers of the automotive industry in Germany. Their efforts paved the way for the modern automobile. The German automakers’ factories became the world’s most integrated automotive manufacturing facilities by 1909.
In the late 1800s, automobiles were developed in France. Nicolaus Otto’s first three-wheeler featured a horizontal single-cylinder gasoline engine, a steering wheel, and a drive chain to the rear wheel.
Vehicles are categorized on the basis of the engine used and the type of vehicle. Most automobiles use high-speed diesels or gasoline. The size of the engine determines how the weight is distributed.
The 1908 New York to Paris Race was the first and only automobile race to circumnavigate the globe. It began in Times Square, New York, on February 12, and ended in Paris on July 30, 1908. It was a race of six teams. The Model 35, with four cylinders and 60 horsepower, won the race.
In the United States, automobiles are the most common way to travel. Each year, Americans travel over three trillion miles. Approximately one-quarter of all passenger cars in the world are made in the United States.